PoliWood (2009)

An in-depth look at the Democratic and Republican national conventions held during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election year.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Stars:

Richard Abramowitz, Stephen Baldwin, Annette Bening

Cast

Credited cast:
Richard Abramowitz	...	Himself
Stephen Baldwin	...	Himself
Annette Bening	...	Herself
Ellen Burstyn	...	Herself
Rachael Leigh Cook	...	Herself
David Crosby	...	Himself
Alan Cumming	...	Himself
Tim Daly	...	Himself
Charlie Daniels	...	Himself
Robert Davi	...	Himself
Dana Delany	...	Herself
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Himself
Tom Fontana	...	Himself
Danny Glover	...	Himself
Anne Hathaway	...	Herself

Storyline

An in-depth look at the Democratic and Republican national conventions held during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election year.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baltimore Pictures, The Creative Coalition

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Nothing interesting or even remotely educational

"PoliWood" is one of the worst documentaries I have seen.

With a director like Barry Levinson, I certainly wasn't expecting such poor quality. At the beginning I was questioning if he forgot how to direct because he had shaky hand-held interviews that looked bad and didn't add anything to the film.

It's supposed to be about how celebrities have influenced and changed politics. But it went frequently off-course with topics like the history of television and public relations. Which all would have been fine if anything of interest was added. Most of the interviews and footage didn't actually say anything of note, and when they did, they didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.

Documentaries should be able to educate while providing interesting footage and interviews which actually relate to the subject matter at hand. But "PoliWood" didn't have any of that: it didn't teach me anything new and I don't think it could enlighten anybody. Most of the footage didn't directly relate to celebrities influencing politics. And while he did have interviews with celebrities about politics, they were mostly with well-respected individuals like Ellen Burstyn and Susan Sarandon, and most people don't question their involvement in politics.

But what about the (negative) impact when talent-less celebrities like Paris Hilton or Megan Fox try to get involved? And more importantly what can we, as more educated and informed citizens, do to stop their influence on the political process if it is in fact detrimental?

I'm extremely disappointed that "PoliWood" didn't even try to answer those questions, and more disappointed that it didn't even show me anything interesting or educational.